Animal-holding crate



Jan. 13, 1931.

M. J. MARRINAN ET AL 1,788,924

ANIMAL HOLDING CRATE Filed ma 28, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 2 gin canton Michael J. Marrinan Marrin J.Morrinan and James W Morr'inan C ww W I Gunman/15 Jan. 13, 1931. M. J. MARRINAN ETAL 1,733,924

ANIMAL HOLDING CRATE 4 Filed May 28.1927 3 Sheets-Sheet s gwugntoz Michael J. Marrinan MarTin J.Mar-rinan and James W. Marr'man 'atented Jan. 13,119,31 i f f v Q MICHAEL J. MARRINAN, MARTIN J. MARRINAN, AND JAMEs w. MARRINAN, orv .s'r. PAUL, MINNESOTA ANIMAnnoLnINe-onum V 7 Application filed. Ma as, 192?. SeriaINo. 195,032; Our invention relates to animal; holding View, which willappear in the following crates and has for its object to provide a description, the invention resides in the novel.

vice capable of firmly holding an animal combination and arrangement of parts and while'the same is be ng treated or operated m the deta ls of construction here nafter de upon, as is now frequent practice in the manscribed and claimed. I p "55 ufacture of serumsandslmllar medical prep- In; the drawings: 7 V arations. Fig. l is a perspectiveview of our nven- An object of the invention resides in pro tion illustrating the cradle in lowered posig viding a framework consisting of a pair 01': tion ready .to receivean animal to be operspaced frame members connected togeth'erfated upon. r p V at theirupper portions by means of tie Fig. 2 is a side elevationalfview' of our. members, said frame members having an invention illustrating the cradle in its fully;

abutment extending across the same near-zraisedpositionl r V their upper portions, and'in further provid- Fig. 3' is-anend view of thedevice asillus- 5-inga cradle disposed between said frame 'trated in Fig. 2.= l' 7 65 members and adapted to be moved toward 7 Fig.4}is a plan viewof the cradle of our or from said abutment. V 1 invention; detached from the framework A still further object of the invention rethereof. j Y Y sides in'providing said frame members vwith In the handling of animals/ in the manu,-

' intermediate rails to which saidabutment is facturefofserums and. similar medical prep- 70 I pair of links, whereby all of said levers'are lever.

yoke in locked position.

attached, in pivoting to said railspairs of arations" by meansofithev [ordinary crates levers, said levers havingoutwardly and innow available for the purpose," considerable wardly extending arms, in attaching to said dangerarises with crates employing'windcradle near the corners thereof brackets and lasses andsimilar structures for raising. and 25 in connecting said brackets to theoutwardly lowering the-cradle of the cratewhen the 75 extending. arms of'said' levers through 'suitanimal is being released from the. crate,.due able hangers.- 1' j 1 I tothe operator being unable to control the p An additional object-of the invention recranks of the 'windlassesiand receiving insides inpivotingv to the upper portions of juriesztherebyg Our invention overcomes this g said frame members a yoke having a leg disdisadvantage by producing a simple and ef- '8 posedsubstantially in the plane of each of fective lever system for raising and lowersaidpairs of levers,.and in connecting each .ing the crate, whereby'the same may be .acof said legsof said yoke to the inwardlyexcomplished in a'simple and expeditious mantending arms of said levers by means of aner by a single operation of the operating simultaneously operated to raise and lower v Our improved animal holding crate com-, said cradle from the four corners thereof. prises primarily a frameworkA which con- A feature of the invention residesin prosists "of two spaced frame members10 and .viding a locln'ng' mechanism for holding said .11 constructed as best shown in Fig. ,1. r Each of these frame members-consists of two 9 Another object of the inventionresides in uprights {12 and 13 connected togetherv by providing the end of said cradle with a slot upper. and' lower rails'ldv and 15 and interand a plurality of .kerfs adapted to receive mediate rails 16 disposed nearer the upper a chain for holding the head of the animal railsllt than thelovver rails. The two frame from movement. v I l members'll and 12 are connected together 95 still further object of, the invention re at the upper portions of the uprights 12am sides in detachably mounting upon the end 13 by means of transverse. or cross, rails .1116 of said cradle'a guardiadaptedto move with and 117 and by means crew tie plates 18 said cradle. i and-19.disposedsomewhat'below saidcross With the foregoing and other objects'in rails and havingthe lower edges position d lea and 11 below the rails 16 may be lined'with a suitable sheet metal lining 34 so asto form a smooth enclosure within the frame members between which the animal may be readily directed in placing thesamewithin the crate.

caster wheels 23 mounted on the lower ends or the frame members 13. iBy means of this arrangement the entire crate may be read ily moved about to facilitate the use "of the same. 3 v

IAs will be noted in Figs. 1 and 3 the portion of'the framework beneath the tie plates 18 and 19 is fully'open." Within this space isdisposed a cradle 13 which'consists of two longitudinal beams '24 and sup 'porting a body; portion EZGpreferably constructed of sheet metal and of arcuate formation to substantially fit aboutthebelly of the animal to behandled by the dev ce. This cradleis provided-atthefour corners thereof with-brackets 27 and 28 by means of whichthe' cradle is "carried in amanner to be presently described. The bodyportion '26 of cradleB is-form'ed with two longitudinal openings 29 and 30 which extend substantially throughout the; length Of:' the cradle andareadapted to allow *the feet Of-theanima to pro'ject"therethrough during the use of thedevices In addition, the cradle B formed with kerfs 3 1*al0ng the edges of. "the" front portion 32"-"thereof,' together with a longitudinal'slot*33 means of which a-xsuitable chain 101f may be at tached to the'cradlei for holding 'the head of the animal from movement.

(lo-operating with the cradle B we employ an arcuate abutment 35 which abutment may be constructed ofsheet metal andis formed along its edges Withflanges 136'by means ofwhich the sa'mecanbe attached between the tie. plates 18 and 19.8.11Cl'1l8 adapted to engage theback"oftheanimal when the cradle Bis raised aswill-be present-ly described, so- 'as to holdjf the animal firmly within thecrate. To further facilitate the 'holdingof the animal,- the tie plates 18 and. 19 are curved alongtheir lower edges as indicated at 36 and formed-with out wardly f extending flanges 137' along I said 7 curved POIUOHStO stiffen the sameiand to assistv in engaging the baclrof the animal when" the animal as held within the crate. For raisingand lowering the cradle B we employ two-sets of levers which are pivoted to the respective frame niembers' 10 and 11 and connected to the four brackets {'27 and 39 and are pivoted at 40 and 41 to the intermediate rail 16 of said frame member. The'pivots 40 and 41 are spaced from'one v another in symmetrically disposed relation The framework A, is supported on two stationary wheels QO and 21 which are journaled on trunnions 22 secured to th'e lower ends of the uprights 12 together vvitlrtwo? relative to the center of-the said rail. The lever 381s formed with an "outwardly ex tending "arm 42 and an inwardly extending arm 43,-;while the lever 39 is formed with an outwardly extending arm 44 and an 1nwardlyiextending arm 45. These arms are of such a length that the ends of the arms 43 and. 45 move substantially "along the center of the device when -thesaid levers are operand-13. To the endsof the arms 42 and 44;

are pivoted two hangers 46 and 47 which in turn are pivoted to the brackets 27 and 28 ofthe cradle B; 115- can be readily seen that when the two" setsof leversf38 and '39 are simultaneouslyoperated, that the cradle Bis raised or lowered from the four corners thereof, thereby providing a rigid support for "the same.

5 For operating thefleversf38 and39 we employ ayolredlever 48 having two legs 49 and 50 connected by abridge member The legs 49 and 50 are pivoted'to a-bar 52 secured 'to the cross rail 116 whichbar 'and the bridge member I)? are ofsuch a'length as to"'bring-the legs 49am '50 outwardly beyondthe rails 14' of/the frame 'members '10 and ll' in substantially-theplane of the levers and 39. intermediate the ends of each of'said legs 49 and'150,thesamehave pivotedto them two depending li-nks' 53 and 54 which are pivoted-'to'the ends ofth'e' arms and 45 as best shownin Fig. 1. It-will .jbe vnoted that the links 53fand 5 are dis that the arm 43 isoffset-as'in'dicated at; 55, to allow thefree movement of said legsand leverswithout interference. 'YlVhen the yoke '48:" is lowered -'fror1rtlie position shown in Fig. '1' tothat shown in Fig. 2 the levers 3,8"and'39 are swung upon-the pivots 4'0 and 41 to take the position shown in-FigvQ, thereby elevating the cradle B from its lowermost to its "uppermost position.

For holding-thelever; mechanism of' the invention in locked position, the following eonstruction is employed: Attached tothe rails 14 and 16 of'each of theframe menu bers'lO and llis astrut 56'which carries across member 57 rigidly secured thereto. Upon this cross member -'-is mounted- *a bracket 58-which has pivotedto it a swinging quadrant 59 formedwith plurality of teeth 60 "arranged -alongthe arcuate edge thereof. This quadrant is constructed-in the arc" of a ci-rcle having its center in proximity to the axis of the yoke 48, but being i so disposed as to normally bring the upper said yoke.

end of quadrant 59 closer to the axis of yoke 48 than the lower end. lhis quadrant is adapted to engage a latch bar 61 ez'tendingacross and secured to the legs l9 and 50 of Said quadrant is normally held in engagement with the latch bar 61 by means of a compression coil spring 62-,

which is mounted upon a pin 63 pivoted to the said quadrant and slidable along a support 6% attached'to the tie bar 117.

The quadrant 59 is operated through a bell crank 65 mounted on frame A, which upon releasing thelatch bar 61 from any.

' of the teeth 59, the said latch bar engages the next tooth thereby permitting of lowering the device,tooth by tooth, without dan- .-ger f the cradle accidentally droppingto the bottom at one time. V

The operation of the device is as follows: The yoke 51 is first moved to its upper position as shown in Fig. 1, which causes the cradleB to be lowered to its lowermost po} sition. The animal is then driven intothe crate throughthe space between the frame members and 11, the abutment and cradle B. Upon entering the crate the legs of the animal protrude through the open ings 29 and 30 in said crate, the animal stillstanding on the floor in the usual manner.

A guard 100 detachably mounted upon the forward end of cradle B prevents the animal from running through the crate.

When the animal is in proper position in the crate, the cradle B israised by moving the yoke 48 downwardly until the back of the animal is tightly wedged against the .abutment 35.

his is accomplished by applying a long handle not shown in the drawings, to a stud 66 issuing outwardly from the bridge member 51 of yoke 48 and g I After the animal is tightly wedged between the abut-.

pulling down upon said handle.

ment 25 and the cradle B, the same being held in place through the quadrant 59, the handle and the guard 1O0 ma-y be removed.

7 .The chain 101 islooped about the head-of f the animal and the-ends thereof which pass through theslot 33 are drawn tight along the underside of the cradle. B and are let -into'any of the kerfs 81to hold the said chain firmly applied to the animals head.

After this the crate maybe wheeled about to permit of operating upon the animal asv desired.

Our invention is highly advantageous in that itfprovides a'simple'and effective de- .Vicefor quickly'and efifectivelylholding-ananimal whileflbeing operated upon. The raising and lowering is accomplished by a singlemovenient so that theanimal [can be securely held while in .the proper position without giving it an opportunity to extricate itselfJ All danger from the manipulation of the invention is. elimimated so that the operator may safely andcflectively use the device.

Changes. in the-specific form of our/invention, as: herein disclosed, may-be made.

within the. scope'of what is claimed without departing. from the spirit of our invention. 'Having describedlour invention, what we claim as new and desire ters katent is: V 1. An animal portionsof said; frame.membe'rs,a cradle v ,holdingg crate comprising spaced upright frame memb'ers,an abutment attached to and extend ng'zacross the upper to protect Letpositioned between said-framemembers and below said abutment and raisable toward said abutment, brackets ssu ng outwardly from said cradle near the corners thereof,"-a

pair of levers pivoted to each of said frame 1 members having arms extending toward sald brackets, hangers connecting each of said levers with one of said bracketsfa yoke pivoted to both of'said frame membershaving aleg arranged substantially in the plane of said levers, a pair of links connected to.

each leg of said yoke and to said levers, said yoke upon movement being adapted to simultaneously operate all of said levers for raising said .cradle at all four "corners thereof, and means for holding said cradle from movement. l

2. An animal holding crate comprising a pair of spaced frame members, each frame member comprising a pair of uprights connected by .an upper, lower and an inter H mediate rail, tie members connecting said frame members together near the upper portions thereof, an abutment extending across and secured to the intermediate rails of said I frame members, a'cradle positioned between said frame members and movable toward 1 and away from said abutment, a pair of levers pivoted to each of' said intermediate rails having their pivots spaced and syminetrical1y( disposed. relative to: the centers of said intermediate railsjsaid levers being formed with outwardly and inwardly extending arms, brackets formedon said cradle at the four corners thereof in. proximity tothe uprights of said frame members, hangers connecting theoutwardly extending arms of said-levers with sai d brackets, a yoke pivoted to the-upper portion of-one of the uprights of each of'saidfra'm'e members, said yoke havinga leg-positioned substantiallyin the plane of said levers,a pair of links pivoted to each legof said yoke and-connected tothe' --if'1war'd1y -ext-ending:"-terms offssaid %'-1eiwe1's, whereby-all of said levers'tare simultaneouly operated to raise Land lowerisaid fcradleififom alk four corners thereei'and means'forihld- 7.5 ing saidcradle'from movement. 1 3. Ananimal holding crate comprising a framework, an abutment attached tofisaid framework, I a cradle carried by said framework and movablestoward'said abut- "10- ment, said cradle being formedwith a slot along the central portion thereof and having kerfs along its edges, and it chain adapted V tube "looped about the neck ofthe animal supported uponsaid cradle and passing 15ft11r011gh said slot, therends of said chailrfbeingadaptedto be hooked into said-' kerfs for holdingthe same attached to the'meck'of the animal. 1 K I In 'testimonywhereof; e ha've' signedem 2 nemes'to this speeification. V

' --MIOHAEL -J. MARRINAN.

MARTIN J. MARRINAN. JAMES NV. MARRINAN.

siesuse 

